If a Tree Falls in the (Digital) Forest

How much does a pixel weigh?

In my office most of our day is spent creating digital products, online advertising etc. We been talking recently about the need to feel the weight of our work. The carpenter can look back after a hard day’s work and see wood and concrete making a dent in the landscape. The work we do, on the contrary, disappears as soon as our screens go dark.

The more I work in the digital sphere, the more I fear making physical things. A digital object can always be edited. Once it occupies physical space it becomes real. Final. Its mass carries an authority that digital objects lack.

That’s why I think there will always be a special place for things like books and products that we can engage with our fingers, not just our eyeballs.

Printing out our words, images, and work reminds us that our work is being heard.